Karen Mulder, the first-ever Victoria's Secret Angel, has revealed that the iconic concept of models wearing wings down the runway originated with her. Mulder, a Dutch supermodel, became the first woman to wear the lingerie company's signature wings in 1998.
During a recent interview, Mulder explained that the inspiration came from the television show "Charlie's Angels." "I was thinking of ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and then I told [former VS marketing chief] Ed Razek, ‘Why don’t you do Victoria’s Secret Angels?’ Then they did," she shared.
Mulder, now 57, was in her late twenties when she debuted the winged look on the runway. Fellow model Tyra Banks also sported wings during the same show.
Mulder recently attended the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, opting to watch from the front row rather than walk the runway. Throughout her career, she has graced the covers of over 700 magazines, including 22 issues of Vogue, and notably remains the only model to have been featured on the cover of American Vogue for two consecutive months.
In addition to her modeling achievements, Mulder has returned to the spotlight, appearing on the cover of Vogue Germany's September 2026 issue, 31 years after her last Vogue cover. She also discussed being "cancelled" in the early 2000s after speaking out about abuse within the fashion industry, an experience that led her to step away from public life for several decades. "I'm not the same person I used to be," she stated, adding, "I’m looking to the future with nothing but positivity."